Vehicle sunroofs have been used for quite some time to provide partial opening of vehicle body roofs in order to increase ventilation and to also provide the roof with a somewhat convertible-like capability of opening the vehicle occupant compartment. With some sunroofs, the sunroof panel has a front edge that is secured to the roof and a rear edge that is movable upwardly from a closed position to an upper vented position under the control of a latch mechanism. This type of sunroof is usually referred to as a "pop-up" sunroof and has previously included a sunroof panel that is also detachable at its hinge and latch mechanism to permit complete removal of the panel in addition to being movable between the closed and vented positions. With other sunroofs, the sunroof panel is mounted for longitudinal movement between a forward position closing the roof opening and a rearwardly retracted position below the roof to the rear of the roof opening such that the roof opening is partially opened to the environment. Examples of these two types of sunroofs are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,005,901; 4,038,910; 4,085,965; 4,103,962; 4,126,352; 4,350,385; 4,403,805; 4,523,785; and 4,541,665.
In some roof constructions, there is insufficient room for a sunroof panel of the rearwardly retractable type to have the panel stored below the roof in the rearwardly retracted position. To overcome this problem, it has previously been proposed to have the sunroof panel stored externally at a location above the roof in the rearwardly retracted position. Movement between the closed and rearwardly retracted positions may be actuated manually or by a suitable power actuator. Examples of such externally retractable sunroofs are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,993,348; 4,005,900; 4,043,590; 4,407,541; 4,426,112; 4,463,983; and 4,475,767.